Piano as an Investment

This is a chart of how well pianos have done as an investment strategy. We have used older data so as not to show any “bubble” effect.

As you can see over a 20 year period quality pianos appreciate very well.

Steinway Pianos are very good investments, so is the Baldwin Grand Pianos that really shine as an investment.

These piano investments are tax free.

Grand Pianos

Brand

Size

1986

1990

1995

2000

2005

2X Y#

% Increase

Steinway 6’10.5

“

$27,180

$31,158

$39,960

$48,510

$57,870

17

113%

Baldwin 6’3

“

$11,739

$13,890

$17,642

$23,152

$39,345

15

235%

Yamaha

6″1″

$10,322

$12,315

$17,918

$21,968

$23,543

14

128%

Kawai

6’11”

$8,141

$9,821

$17,168

$20,093

$22.043

10

171%

Schimmel

6′

$13,064

$14,816

$23,344

$27,664

$33,904

12

160%

Vertical
Pianos

Brand

Size

1986

1990

1995

2000

2005

2X Y#

% Increase

Steinway

46.5″

$7,376

$8,892

$11,790

$14,769

$17,640

14

139%

Baldwin

45″

$2,645

$3,246

$3,816

$4,128

$6,688

17

152%

Yamaha

48″

$3,559

$3,758

$5,018

$5,993

$6,075

22

83%

Kawai

49″

$3,559

$3,575

$5,018

$5,693

$5,993

23

83%

Schimmel

48″

$5,272

$6,336

$9,264

$10,464

$12,144

14

130%

Raw data from ANCOTT Associates, an industry pricing guide, we have put together some representative samples of piano selling prices over the past 20 years. We have included two American brands, Steinway & Sons and Baldwin; two Japanese brands, Yamaha and Kawai; as well as one European brand, Schimmel. For each, we have selected one popular grand size and one vertical size. The raw data come from the ANCOTT spring/summer database for each respective year. The prices in our table reflect typical “street” or actual selling prices. We applied traditional discounting to ANCOTT’s Average Suggested Retail prices (sort of MSRP figures). Not an exact science, but consistent across the table.

The prices in these tables are for new pianos. Rebuilt pianos do even better.